Dear Dominik,
 
In the NGMPP leaflet of 2010 (“Vorläufige Benutzungsordnung des Mikrofilm-Depots”, “Provisional Usage Regulations of the Microfilm Depot”), point 2 actually says that “according to the contract concluded between the government of the Kingdom of Nepal and the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft [DMG, German Oriental Society], copies may only be made for citizens of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.”
 
The above claim that this is stipulated in the contract between the Nepalese government and the DMG is simply false. Neither in this contract of 16 February 1970 nor in the contract of 24 March 1984 between the DMG and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (to which the State Library of Berlin belongs) is there such a restriction. Consequently, it is also missing from the Berlin State Library's “Information Sheet for the Use of Manuscripts” (“Merkblatt für die Benutzung von Handschriften”) of November 2009 and from the current “Terms and Conditions for the Use of the Microfilm Depository (NGMPP)” (“Benutzungsordnung des Mikrofilm-Depots [NGMPP]”) of the Berlin State Library of March 2014.
 
It was never intended to be otherwise.
 
Best regards
Roland

----- Nachricht von Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> ---------
     Datum: Sun, 29 Dec 2024 20:23:19 -0700
       Von: Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Antwort an: Dominik Wujastyk <wujastyk@gmail.com>
   Betreff: Re: [INDOLOGY] Abbreviations in NGMCP catalogue entries.
        An: Indology <indology@list.indology.info>

The original contract between the German Research Society and the Nepalese authorities stipulated that copies of microfilms had to be purchased directly from the National Archives in Kathmandu.  The one exception to this was that copies of the films were available in Berlin, where German nationals could consult them and have copies.  That's the contract and it has not been renegotiated.  Many of us have wrestled with all this for many decades.

 

If anything different from this is happening then it is the result of an altruistic gesture by someone in favour of supporting non-nationalistic scholarship, which is lovely.  But it's not a result of a change in the original terms of the contract.

 

Best,

Dominik

 

--

Prof. Dominik Wujastyk

University of Alberta

 

"The University of Alberta is committed to the pursuit of truth, 

the advancement of learning, and the dissemination of knowledge 

through teaching, research and other scholarly and creative activities and service."

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